'SNL' Alum Finesse Mitchell Talks Comedy, Playing Football With The Rock

Finesse Mitchell attends ESPN: The Party 2017 held on Friday, Feb. 3, 2017, in Houston, Texas. (Photo by John Salangsang/Invision/AP)

What separates Finesse Mitchell from other former cast members of Saturday Night Live? How about the fact that he was a cornerback and free safety on the University of Miami's 1991 championship team that also included Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson and Hall of Famer Warren Sapp.

What separates him from other comedians is that his upcoming debut one-hour special, The Spirit Told Me To Tell You, premieres this Friday, October 19 on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET. Mitchell decided it was best for him to go against the grain and not get lost amongst Netflix's vast array of comedy content and stand out on Showtime.

Why choose a cable network over Netflix for your special?

We were all fighting to get specials on Netflix because first we hear they’re paying people $20 million, 'Can I get a tenth of that? I’ll take that.' But they are so obsessed with taking over the entire the game of programming in every aspect that the words 'comedy special' are so weak right now.

It used to be like, 'Oh, shoot, a one-hour comedy special.' Now it’s just like regular programming. Now it’s just like every four days, somebody new is dropping. They can’t even keep up with their own demand.

So I thought it was a great idea to partner up with Showtime because they’re losing to Netflix, but at least you stand out more on Showtime. I’m going to get a lot more attention than I would at Netflix and I have a history with Showtime being on Roadies that Cameron Crowe and J.J. Abrams show that should have been picked up for another season, but I didn’t hold any grudges.

It just all makes sense. I’m glad I’m there. I’m glad they responded to the special the way they did, and here we are. This Friday, it’s about to go down, Heavyweight fight.

FINESSE MITCHELL: THE SPIRIT TOLD ME TO TELL YOU on ShowtimeRodney Ray

What was your time at SNL like?

I started as a feature performer (in 2003) then I was a cast member my third season. Amazing time to be on the show and amazing people. I still feel like I had one of the dopest casts that’s like kicking a** right now in the industry. It was a great time to be on the show.

Was there a lot of pressure being a feature performer to become a full cast member?

For me, I was just happy to be there. One minute I’m doing stand up and sleeping on my buddy's couch in L.A., and the next minute, I found out I got the job, and [flew] to New York to be on Saturday Night Live.

I didn’t know the difference between 'cast member' or 'feature performer.' Then I saw my paycheck and I was like, ‘Oh, I get it.’ Before that, I was just happy to be there and meet people like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers.

Then the people that came after me: Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig and then the people that came in with me like Kenan Thompson. I just saw everybody pretty much for the Emmy party two weeks ago and we all got a chance to catch up.

You were a walk-on at the University of Miami and wound up winning a championship there, how unique was that team?

I got to Miami in ’90 and that was probably the best team we had that didn’t win the championship. For some reason, we lost the first game of the year to BYU, but it was the most talented and best team I’ve ever been a part of.

And then we won the championship in ’91, so go figure. A great team, great atmosphere. The 2 Live Crew and Luther Campbell, it was like our football team had its own rap group and soundtrack during the early 90s.

It was just an amazing time to be at the University of Miami. I’m still a Hurricanes fan. To this day I’m still obsessed with the team. I’m glad out of all the schools I [saw] I went to Miami.

I had never been a part of so much speed, so much talent, and so much [of a] bad boy attitude. They were literally rule breakers, 15-20 years later they make a 30 for 30 (ESPN)and the very first one they make is the University of Miami, The U.

I’m like, ‘That’s us.' We were all on Facebook, Twitter saying, ‘I told you we were criminals.’ It was a fun time. I kept saying, ‘Man, this should be on TV.’ The little antics in between practice, the characters, the Rohan Marleys… It was just the craziest characters that you ever had on a football team.

When we did lose it was literally because we got into a fight with ourselves right before the game, and that always happened. There would be a fight in the locker room and then we would go out and try to win a game and couldn’t win.

Did you join the team the same year as Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson and Warren Sapp?

We all came in together. We were all freshmen. Back then Dwayne was a little quiet, so we weren’t close friends, but we definitely knew each other. Totally different personality than what we see right now if you can imagine that.

And Warren Sapp was not the most likable guy, he was definitely one of the more talented football players I had ever been around, but his personality was an acquired taste, as they say. On the football field, he was a monster and he was actually a tight end. He came in as a tight end. For whatever reason, they said, ‘Let’s try you at defensive tackle.’

And the rest is history. Now he’s a Hall of Famer. We’re much cooler now than we were back then. I was also a fraternity guy, he hated fraternities. It was just like oil and water back then. But now, we’re definitely cool. Ray Lewis… We had phenomenal players on that team.

Ray was two years after us. My junior year he was a freshman. He saw the field a lot more than I did. He was a monster, he was a man-child.

Looking back, are you surprised Dwayne Johnson was quiet then?

No, for some reason, I s*** you not, a lot of people from that era from our school, and a lot of people that went into the NFL, they were stars in the NFL. They were household names in the NFL that came off of those early 90’s Miami teams. From the Michael Irvins all the way down to the Ed Reeds to whoever. They are the personalities.

Even like a Reggie Wayne. He was great at Miami but he was an Indianapolis Colts superstar. I could name you at least 30 people that would be household names in football that came out of that program.

So when Dwayne said he was going into wrestling and we knew his family… We had a conversation in a barber shop and he said that he was going to Canada to play football but if that didn’t work out, he thought about going into wrestling and I told him, ‘I don’t think that’s going to work out.’

I’m from Atlanta, so I grew up on Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen and NWA wrestling. Half of wrestling is you got to be in front of the mic and like the biggest s*** talker ever. I just didn’t know Dwayne to have that personality, but he has shocked the world and I’m so proud of him.

He’s the number one box office draw in America and I’m happy for him. Dwayne, if you read this article, brother, please call me, because I always knew you were going to make it. I’m not surprised, but he will admit he wasn’t the most suave dresser. I don’t know how he was his junior/senior year, I was around him more his freshman/sophomore year.

Comedian Finesse MitchellRodney Ray

How did you get SNL?

I got called in to audition. I sent in a tape. I started at the Miami Improv down in Coconut Grove, Florida and I just got good at it really fast. I really was a student of the game and I really had my own little style and I was great at storytelling, painting that visual picture and it was a cross between blue comedy and just smart comedy.

I’m so glad I started in Miami because the crowds were so diverse. You have to appeal to everybody. Then in 2003, we heard that Tracy Morgan was leaving Saturday Night Live and they were looking for the new black guy.

Half the battle was just hearing the information. I heard Jay Mohr, who used to be on the show, talking to Dane Cook in front of a comedy club one night and they were saying, ‘Yo, Tracy Morgan is leaving the show, they’re looking for a new black guy.’ I was like, ‘I’m black.’ They were like, ‘You better send in a tape.’ I sent in a tape three days later.

I auditioned at Stand Up New York when they invited me out. I remember being in 'Group C.' I was the fifth person in 'Group C.' Steve Higgins, on the Jimmy Fallon show - he’s like Ed McMahon now - he was there, Lorne (Michaels) was there, I guess Tina (Fey) was there, she was the head writer.

They narrowed it down, and I was one of the people they narrowed it down to. It was me, Kenan Thompson, J.B. Smoove and DeRay Davis. One other person, I think Kel Mitchell, I’m not sure.

They couldn’t make up their mind, so they flew everybody back home. That group that they selected, we were all living in L.A. at the time, so Lorne and the gang came out to L.A. to watch us all again. He had just finished vacationing in Hawaii, stopped over in L.A., he said, ‘I want to see the guys again.’

They set up a showcase at the Laugh Factory. The Laugh Factory is like my home club. So I knew I was about to tear that b**** down. Sure enough, I went in and gave like the performance of my life.

I got a standing ovation that night, I ended up getting chosen for Saturday Night Live, then my whole comedy life changed after that. They called me like two days later.

Is the surplus of celebrity cameos on SNL taking opportunities away from cast members?

They do a whole lot more cameos, absolutely. They do a whole lot more cameos than they ever did back in my day. Generally, back in 2003-2007, you had your celebrity guest, you had your host, and you had your musical guest. That was it. And if anybody was going to do something, it would be the musical guest agreeing to do a sketch. But now, I mean it’s like so many cameos.

I think it’s also a testament to just Saturday Night Live being on the air for [over] 40 years now. I think that so many celebrities are trying to use it to create a buzz around their own brand.

Alec Baldwin has always been a great friend of the show, always. Him and Lorne are like great friends. He can come in the day of and say, ‘I have an idea.’ They’ll put it on TV. Now, there’s a bunch of cameos now. We didn’t have that.

Anything that took away from me getting on TV I did not like. So I can imagine how they feel. But at the same time, it brings ratings, because people are like, ‘Oh, who are they going to get to play…’ Where you would go to the cast and say this person would make a great Brett Kavanaugh, you do bring in somebody like Matt Damon. Do you need Matt Damon? No.

People were going to watch that weekend anyway. So you probably could have used a cast member. If you want more people talking about it, you bring in celebrities and more celebrities want to do the show. Lorne is a guru at that stuff. There’s no way I would know more about what works for SNL, only he knows that.

Was Cameron Crowe very hands-on with Roadies?

I think Cameron Crowe single-handedly inspired me to not take things so lightly. Anybody can be Morgan Freeman in this business. I truly believe that now. You don’t have to be doing show business at 18, 19, 20 years old.

Your career can start popping at 40-something, 50-something. I feel like that’s what’s happening for me. Cameron helped make that happen because I did murder his audition for Roadies. When I was selected I was like, ‘Yo, why did you choose me?’ And he was like, ‘Because you were the best person.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, but I’m a black accountant for a rock band. Who’s going to believe that?’ He said, ‘That’s your job to make people believe that.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’

You don’t even realize you’re asking dumb questions and this is the guy that did Jerry Maguire and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, you’re talking to a legend. Don’t give him second thoughts on why he picked you. He was very hands-on and I got to see J.J. (Abrams) quite a few times.

But Cameron is a masterful writer. I’m just sad the show didn’t get another year, I think it would have hit its stride. We’re still friends to this day. He gives great swag gifts, he’s very thoughtful. That’s my man. I’m so glad he chose me to do that show. It established my relationship with the Showtime network and I was around a great cast and I got to hang out with MGK, Machine Gun Kelly.